Location successfully changed to English (USA)
- Select a region
- English (Global)
- English (Asia)
- English (USA)
- 中文
- Deutsch
- Español
- Français
- 日本語
- Polski
One of Earth’s richest marine sanctuaries is under threat—and big banks are behind it.
The Gulf of California is one of the most vital marine ecosystems on the planet. A UNESCO World Heritage site and home to more than one-third of all marine mammal species, it’s where life flourishes in ways found nowhere else—blue whales calving in sheltered waters, vaquita porpoises navigating by sound, and coastal communities drawing sustenance from the sea. But its future is now under threat.
A dangerous new project—backed by JPMorgan Chase and other major banks—plans to carve up this fragile coastline to build a sprawling liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.
Known as the Saguaro Energia project, it would industrialize pristine shores, cut gas pipelines through desert habitats, and unleash millions of tons of planet-heating methane pollution. In doing so, it puts irreplaceable species at even greater risk and accelerates the climate crisis.
If completed, the Gulf of California would become a major shipping corridor for LNG tankers—bringing constant underwater noise, higher risk of ship strikes, and increased danger of fuel or chemical spills. What is now one of the planet’s richest marine ecosystems would be repurposed as a fossil fuel transit zone—endangering not just wildlife, but also the coastal communities that depend on clean, healthy waters.
This traffic would pass through critical blue whale calving grounds, one of the few places on Earth where these majestic animals return to raise their young, making it harder for them to safely use these essential habitats. It would also disrupt the last remaining refuge of the vaquita porpoise, the world’s most endangered marine mammal. With approximately ten remaining in the world, even moderate underwater noise could interfere with their ability to find food or mates—pushing them past the point of no return.
But this is more than just a local issue—it’s a global climate threat. If it goes ahead, the Saguaro Energia terminal is proposed to export 15 million metric tons of LNG per year sourced from the Permian Basin in Texas.
Every new pipeline and export terminal built today delays the urgently needed transition to renewable energy, and deepens our dependence on dangerous fossil fuels, even as the world faces devastating floods, fires, and droughts driven by a rapidly warming planet.
By backing this project, major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Santander and MUFG are choosing to prop up a fossil fuel system that’s already pushing our communities, ecosystems, and climate to the brink.
At ClientEarth, we’re working to expose and challenge this destruction and hold corporations accountable. We’ve alerted JPMorgan Chase that its continued involvement could expose the bank to serious financial, legal, and reputational risks—including potential scrutiny over greenwashing and investor misrepresentation.
As our legal team has made clear, this project directly undermines the bank’s own public commitments on climate, biodiversity, and human rights. And with construction already stalled by multiple lawsuits in Mexico, community resistance surging, and a key investor for the project developer headed for the exit, the warning signs are impossible to ignore.
But stopping this destructive project takes all of us—attorneys, communities, and supporters like you. That’s why we’re working to mobilize people around the world to demand better from the corporations backing this disastrous plan. Together, we can send a clear message: the Gulf of California is not a sacrifice zone for fossil fuel profits.
